Guest Blogger: Author Gigi Amateau interviews Author Joseph Papa

When Elizabeth Taylor passed away earlier in the year, one of my favorite authors Gigi Amateau tweeted the fact that she had met Taylor briefly years ago. I tweeted her back asking if she'd like to write a bit about the experience for Out of the Past. She agreed and made it even better by including it in an interview with Joseph Papa, the author of Elizabeth Taylor: A Passion For Life (read my review here). I thank Gigi for introducing me to Joseph Papa's book, for arranging this interview and for writing such wonderful books as Claiming Georgia Tate (a personal favorite), Chancey of the Maury River and A Certain Strain of Peculiar.

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Gigi: Certain stars have, oh, a personal impact on us regular folks - the big ones: Elvis, Elizabeth Taylor, Michael Jackson, Audrey Hepburn. When do you recall first becoming aware of Elizabeth Taylor? 

Joseph: My earliest memories of Elizabeth Taylor are actually from the mini-series North and South. I was (and still am, I suppose) obsessed with it as a child. Taylor has a small role in the series. It wasn't until much later that I would come to appreciate her as much as I do now.

G: What led you to write Elizabeth Taylor: A Passion for Life?

J: The idea for the book came very casually from an editor that I work with. She was looking for someone to "do" a book on Taylor and I jumped at the opportunity. I'm fortunate that she had the faith in me to do it.

 
G: It’s evident from the way you write about Elizabeth Taylor that you admire her for her tenacity, her free spirit, and her determination to succeed and experience life, as well as her beauty and glamour and style. If asked to express her life as a bumper sticker what would that bumper sticker say?

J: It would have to be a quote from Liz herself, well actually from her character in Suddenly Last Summer. I think perhaps: "Truth is the one thing I've never resisted." Or perhaps, "When the suncomes up, I have morals again"

G: How did she influence you?

J: If I've learned anything from Elizabeth Taylor, it's how pointless regret is. She never spent too

much time dwelling on mistakes and I think she grew and learned from each of them.

G: How about some word association, thinking of Elizabeth Taylor. I say Dick you say:

J: Liz

G: I say AIDS, you say:

J: crusader


G: I say mother, you say:

J: courage

G: I say Virginia, you say:

J: Senator (as in John Warner)

G: Speaking of Senator Warner, I think my favorite period of Elizabeth Taylor’s life is when she was married to John Warner. I was fourteen and in junior high school when I met her in Hanover County, Virginia at the Republican Party Ox Roast – what was then an annual fundraising event held on my friend’s farm. My friends and I were working the event by parking cars. She was there campaigning for her husband’s run for a Virginia senate seat. I remember she wore a cherry-red and white v-neck dress that showed off her legs and her cleavage. She looked so natural and comfortable and gorgeous. She stopped to greet me and asked what I planned to do with my life. I said I wanted to be an actress! She told me, “It takes a lot of hard work and determination, but if you really want it, then don’t ever give up.” Later as my friend and I were riding double bareback down the road on a mule, her car rolled by, and she stopped to talk to us, again. She asked how far we were going and told us to be careful on the road. I also remember from that time that she was married to John Warner, she told an interviewer about the two of them cooking together and arguing over whether the pasta was al dente. She threw the pasta against the wall and it stuck there, so they wrote ‘al dente’ and the date on the wall. I thought that was so romantic! So, what is your favorite period of Elizabeth Taylor’s life?



 
J: That's a tough question because I'm not certain that my favorite time in her life is necessary the one with the most impact ... that being of course her work with HIV/AIDS later in her life. I'm very drawn to the time in the 1950s when she was making some of her best films, Giant, Suddenly Last Summer, Cat on a Hot Tin Room, etc. One of my favorite stories - that I uncovered while researching the book -was from the set of Giant where Taylor would forge her lifelong friendship with Rock Hudson. They filmed in very rural Texas and would frequently have to stop shooting because of hail storms. Hudson and Taylor would gather the balls of hail and use them as ice for chocolate martinis. The late 50's also saw her marriage to Mike Todd, a union that was cut short by his death. I find their time together endlessly fascinating and romantic.

Elizabeth Taylor: A Passion for Life by Joseph Papa

Elizabeth Taylor: A Passion for Life
The Wit and Wisdom of a Legend
by Joseph Papa
Harper Design
April 2011
9780062008398
Hardcover $16.99

My motto has always been to be true to myself, whether it pleases others or not. - Elizabeth Taylor

Compiled by Richmond native and NYC publicist and writer Joseph Papa this book is a collection of quotations as spoken or written by Dame Elizabeth Taylor herself. But this book is more than just a book of quotations. It's a way for us to understand actress Elizabeth Taylor, the passionate, talented, charming and oftentimes mysterious woman who shuffled off her mortal coil earlier this year. Taylor has always been a bit of a conundrum to me and I'm sure this is the case for many other folks too. Why did she marry so many times? Why was she so devoted to men? Why did she make those life and career choices that she did? Why all the jewels? Why?

This book presents us with an opportunity to come to understand Elizabeth Taylor and for her (through the author) to show us who she really was in her own words.

I'm surprised how much I learned about Elizabeth Taylor just by reading quotes! Joseph Papa arranges the quotations in different themed chapters including: Childhood, Acting, Marriage, Motherhood, Self, Beauty & Aging, Extravagances, Giving Back and Life. The most important thing I learned about Elizabeth Taylor was that she was an incredibly passionate woman. She had a passion for life, for men, for food, for her kids and being a mom, for jewels and for her friends. And sometimes there is a price to pay for having passion. You can alienate others and if you are not careful you can put your own life on a path of self-destruction. As a passionate person myself, I know how much peril passion can put a person into. It's not something you can contain and its manageable through restrictions made upon you by yourself or outside forces of which you have no control. Taylor had a life of luxury, celebrity and lots of personal freedom which allowed her passion to drive her life and her choices. Now this may seem a lot to get out of the book and while I don't think this is the message Joseph Papa was trying to get across this is what I could identify with. And I think other readers might be able to find something, some quote (or quotes) from Elizabeth Taylor's own words to apply to their own lives.

Pick up this book if you are an Elizabeth Taylor fan, a confused admirer, a passionate person or you just have a curious mind. It also makes a great gift for the classic film fan who may not want to dive into a dense biography but could get a lot out of a collection of great quotes.

I haven’t had a quiet life. I’ve lived dangerously. Sometimes disaster has come at me like a train. There have been times when I’ve almost drunk myself to death. I’ve been in situations where I was perilously close to killing myself. I’ve almost died several times. Yet some instinct, some inner force, has always saved me, dragging me back just as the train whooshed past. – Elizabeth Taylor

Buster Keaton and Live Musical Accompaniment at the Somerville Theater

A coworker mentioned to me back in May that the Somerville Theater was showcasing a Buster Keaton film festival. I thought she may have confused that with the Charlie Chaplin festival they were having. I put it out of my mind until I saw something in a local town blog about the Somerville Theater showing 2 Buster Keaton shorts and 1 full-length film along with live musical accompaniment. WHAT?! And I had missed a similar showing on June 5th in which one of the shorts was my FAVORITE BUSTER KEATON SHORT EVER, The Scarecrow (1920). Well there was no way I was going to miss this new opportunity, so on a gorgeous Sunday evening, Carlos and I head out to Somerville to enjoy some Buster Keaton.

The films screened were Neighbors (1920), The Goat (1921) and Seven Chances (1925). We got to see these Buster Keaton films the way they were meant to be seen. And how is that exactly? The scenerio fit the following criteria:

1.) 35 mm print
2.) original Thomas Edison aspect ratio of 1:37:1
3.) in a theater that was around during the Buster Keaton era
4.) live musical accompaniment
5.) an enthusiastic and lively crowd that laughs at the real humor

 

The musician was Jeff Rapsis, a silent film accompanist and composer who travels all over the northern parts of New England performing and screening silent films in theaters. Lucky for us, he traveled further south to the Boston area to perform at the Somerville Theater. Boston is a classic film loving town so of course he was welcomed with open arms. Rapsis improvises his music. He has an idea of what he's going to play but nothing is written down. He reacts to the film and to the audience. After the screening, he told a few of us that sometimes he'll play very quiet music or none at all to get the audience to wake up and pay attention to what's going on in the film. Rapsis demonstrated a genuine love for silent films and encouraged the audience to react to the film. When the first film, Neighbors (1920), played the audience immediately erupted into laughter. Rapsis plays on a keyboard and will switch between different instrumental sounds. So at times it sounded like a full orchestra and at other it's was just organ music. I love how Rapsis played variations of the Wedding Theme in various points in Seven Chances.

Neighbors (1920) - This was Carlos' favorite film of the three and my least favorite. I enjoyed it but not as much as the other two. Buster Keaton and Virginia Fox are in love with each other and want to marry but her dad, Joe Roberts (Fatty Arbuckle's replacement) is opposed. Keaton's real-life dad Joe Keaton plays his on screen dad and they have a hilarious scene together where Buster's head is stuck in mud and Joe tries to pull him out much to Joe Roberts' amusement. I particularly loved the scene at the end with Buster standing over two other men in a three-person tower and they go back and forth across the tenement yard. Hilarious!

The Goat (1921) - Now I know where the famous Buster-behind-bars image comes from! Buster Keaton plays a scapegoat. Dead Shot Dan is on the loose after he tricked a photographer into taking a picture of Keaton instead of himself and escapes jail. Now everyone is after Keaton because they think he's Dead Shot Dan. Everyone including cop Joe Roberts. Keaton helps Virginia Fox and she takes him in but uh-oh her dad is that cop who has been chasing him! Lots of great stunts in this film and there are a lot of great gags. A slight bit of blackface but not so much that it's very offensive. This is 1921 after all. Keaton's family almost make appearances in this film.

Seven Chances (1925) - Contemporaries may be more familiar with the Chris O'Donnell remake The Bachelor (1999). This is a full-length feature with more plot but just as many wonderful stunts! Keaton plays Jimmie Shannon. A shy man who is head-over-heels in love with Mary (Ruth Dwyer) but doesn't have the balls to ask her to marry him. When it comes to light that his law firm is about to be disgraced, he learns that he could save his reputation and his company with his $7 million inheritance. However, in order to inherit the fortune he needs to marry by 7pm on his birthday, that day! When he flubs his proposal to Mary, his friends try to get him a new bride and all sorts of hilarity ensues. This film is particularly known for the famous boulder scene which happened by accident. At a screening, his tripping over some rocks got the most laughs so they shot the film again with bigger fake rocks that got bigger and bigger. It's a wonderful scene and shows Keaton at his best physical comedy prowess.

I've said it once and I'll say it again. It's great being a classic film fan in Boston!